The moment I saw it I knew I couldn’t resist the allusion. Here they were. Not PG Tips, but PTG’s online tips for improving your watercolour painting.
Do you remember PG tips, a famous tea brand in Britain, and still going strong, I believe?
That fount of all knowledge Wikipedia tells me: “In the 1930s, Brooke Bond launched PG Tips in the tea market in the United Kingdom under the name Pre-Gestee – a variant of the original name “Digestive Tea.” The name implied that it could be drunk as a digestive aid prior to eating food. Grocers and salesmen abbreviated it to PG.
“After the Second World War labelling regulations ruled out describing tea as aiding digestion—a property that had been attributed to tea—and by 1950/1 the PG name was adopted. The company added “Tips” referring to the fact that only the tips (the top two leaves and bud) of the tea plant are used in the blend.”Good morning all
The company was also famous for using anthropomorphic chimpanzees and monkeys in its advertising campaigns. I’ll never forget a grinning chimp telling me that PG was “tea you can really taste” and no doubt you older Brits have similar memories.
All this rambling is by the by, for today’s blog is nothing to do with PG, nor tea, but rather with PTG, Paul Talbot Greaves, an outstanding watercolour painter who is also a Watermill tutor. And it is a convoluted way of introducing his latest series of insightful tips that will help make you a better painter. For PTG tips to refresh your artistic soul, please click here.
Paul urges you to draw more, stand up to paint and learn much more about colour. It is a very useful and erudite article and I highly recommend reading it it over a cup of tea or two. There are also some wonderful pictures by Paul, a few of which are scattered aroundThis eccentric blog.
Paul will be with us NEXT year with more face-to-face PTG tips and insightful advice on his week-long course on watercolours. And there is a bonus: if you book a place on this 2024 course now, you can enjoy a 2023 prices. Two people have already signed up.
We serve lots of different teas at the Watermill, but not PG Tips. Somehow, Twining’s English Breakfast Tea Tips doesn’t sound quite the same, does it!
Paul Talbot-Greaves
29 June – 6 July 2024
Watercolours
To learn more, please visit our 2024 Courses review page.
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